The Phoenix Suns had a 2023-24 season to forget, that only served to highlight how far away from contention the organization actually is. Despite boasting an insanely high payroll and the addition of Bradley Beal, the Suns had zero playoff victories to show for their efforts to create a monster.
As expected head coach Frank Vogel was given his marching orders - replaced by Arizona native Mike Budenholzer - but improving in any meaningful way is difficult because this franchise finds itself in the second apron.
Yet despite this, their ability to seriously improve their depth has just vaulted the Suns into contention, for real this time.
But how can this be, when one of their top six players in Eric Gordon traded in a return to The Valley in favor of hanging out with Paul George and Joel Embiid? It's simple, the role players around the stars who will be coming back are considerably better than before.
Last time out, the Suns had Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal leading the charge. Behind them in minutes played were Grayson Allen (third and actually above Beal at 33.5), Gordon (27.8), Jusuf Nurkic (27.3) and Royce O'Neale (25.1). The drop-off from that point is steep - because the coaching staff couldn't trust these players, with Josh Okogie next at 16 minutes each night.
Royce O’Neale dropping his mom. This is the kind of dog Suns have. Anything to get the job done. #Snark pic.twitter.com/OXA7bOYKbM
— Espo (@Espo) July 2, 2024
It got so bad that by season's end everybody from Thaddeus Young and Isaiah Thomas to the improved Bol Bol were thrown out there to see if they could produce something. There was talk of David Roddy playing point guard. Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu and Jordan Goodwin didn't survive the year.
The point being that beyond a stellar campaign on both ends from Durant and Booker again being amazing as he enters his prime, the Suns didn't have much to work with. Now compare that to this coming season. The Drew Eubanks experiment was... not good, and he surprisingly walked away from the final year of his deal. Which suited the team well, as it allowed them to sign Mason Plumlee.
It is not that Plumlee is a massive upgrade, but he's certainly more capable of playing a starter's role if required. Whereas Eubanks is most definitely a backup - and one on the smaller side at that - Plumlee starting 11-of-46 games for the L.A. Clippers last season. The improvement might be small, but fans would rather Plumlee than another season of Eubanks.
Bringing back Royce O'Neale was huge, and there's no doubt he'll have a more important role this time out. Coming over at the trade deadline with Roddy, his impact was immediate and he helped space the floor and defend at a reasonable level. Similar to Allen, although after leading the league in 3-point shooting he could only manage a miserable 20 percent from deep in the playoffs.
Mike Budenholzer and Grayson Allen: Reunited pic.twitter.com/KIJMgxmkoN
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) July 14, 2024
Bringing Bol back is nice, but he's not going to play much. Really he shouldn't if this group is good as they're going to have to be to compete. Getting Monte Morris was the real steal though, as the Suns somehow found a competent floor general on the minimum. He won't start games - he might not even finish them - but the roster finally has a natural table-setter for when games slow down.
Okogie coming back on a new deal is also nice, but only because less will be expected of him than before. He actually started on opening night last season, and at one point was probably the eighth man in the rotation. Behind Booker, Beal, Durant, Allen, Nurkic, O'Neale, Morris and Plumlee - if not some of the youngsters as well - this is a nice spot for Okogie to influence the team.
Then there are the pair of rookies in Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, as well as a player who was undrafted in Jalen Bridges who the Suns snapped up. If even one of them can crack the rotation - and Dunn is the safest bet right now - that will bolster the second unit considerably. Really it was that lack of youth that killed the team during the regular season.
So to swap out Eubanks and Gordon for three young players who will give their all during the regular season - plus a full campaign of O'Neale - topped off with Plumlee, Morris and Okogie in a lesser role, and the Suns have absolutely moved closer to contention. If Beal can somehow stay healthy then this becomes one of the sleeper picks in the Western Conference. Don't say you weren't warned.